THE EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK ON TOURISM IN SARAJEVO CANTON

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects that COVID-19 outbreak has had on tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and specifically in Sarajevo Canton. Methodology – A survey was conducted in two rounds in March and September 2020, and responses were obtained from 126 running businesses from the tourism in Sarajevo Canton about the actual and expected consequences that COVID-19 outbreak has had on their business. The respondents were asked questions about the effects that COVID-19 has had on their business operations during the first six months of COVID-19 outbreak and their expectations for the future. The questions also included issues related to the government interventions and stimulus packages to overcome the effects of COVID-19 to ensure the sustainability of the tourism in Sarajevo Canton. Findings – Our results show that all businesses have faced a significant downturn in their business operations and had to undertake different measures and activities internally to overcome (and survive) the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results also show that there is very low level of satisfaction with the government interventions to tourism. Contribution – The findings illustrate and confirm many flaws in tourism system in Sarajevo Canton and BiH where tourism has been developing organically and without proper integration of the private and public industry. Our findings can be used for planning purposes and improvement of the situation during COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 period.